This message is the third in a recent series about ‘new’ challenges I am facing, and they are a result of my reminding myself how to break the chains of regret, disappointment, and disillusionment that keep trying to bind me. There is some redundancy in the thought form with other messages for clarity.
Throughout my life, there have been endless trials and heartbreak. My late wife suffered horribly for 36 years from a debilitating disease until it stopped the moment she graduated from this life. It led me to question everything I had been taught about faith, healing, and the goodness of God. One year in particular, when a series of cataclysmic events came one after another, God ambushed me with His love, captured my heart, and took my breath away like a person caught in the crashing of breakers on the seashore. As I was tossing and turning in His endless waves of love pouring over me, I gasped for more of Him, and He delivered! Even in the midst of current challenges, I have never questioned His love and merciful goodness since that day.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, a whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:2-18 NIV- emphasis mine)
Let’s unpack verse 17.
- “good” (Gk: agathos = intrinsically good and honorable because it originates from God)
- “gift” (Gk: dosis = the act of giving a gift)
- “perfect” (Gk: teleios = having reached its end, consummated, complete by fulfilling the necessary process)
The words “Every good gift and every perfect gift” in Greek include two different nouns. The first expresses the abstract ACTS of giving (See also Philippians 4:15); the second “perfect” free, large, and full gift, as ACTUALLY given and carries the thought beyond all temporal blessings which are incomplete in this life (See Romans 5:16; James 1:18). The ‘perfect” gift is the Holy Spirit and the crowning gift of all, who comes to dwell within the Christian as His dwelling place, the Holy of Holies (Gk: Naos). They have become ‘children of light” (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
- “gift” (Gk: dóréma = a bestowment, to present as a gift or honor; to confer an award)
- “from above” (Gk: anóthen = from a higher place, from the beginning, from Heaven)
- “coming down” (Gk: katabainó = to go down, descend, sent down)
- “Father” (Gk: patér = originator, imparter of life)
- “of lights” (Gk: phós = brilliant illuminating light) [where the word ‘phosphorous’ comes from]
- “variation” (Gk: parallagé = change, fickleness, variableness) There are scientific “parallaxes” of the stars which eclipse one another by shadows projected through space. However, the grace, mercy, kindness, and goodness of the Father have no variableness whatsoever because His radiant glory is unchangeable. Every good gift of His divine grace and spiritual blessings is how we become a different person from what we were before repenting of our sin and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior.
- “shifting” (Gk: trope = turning, change, mutation)
- “shadow” (Gk: aposkiasma = a shadow / obscuration created by turning)
The verse tells us that God’s intention, motivation, and action in giving to us is always good because He is love and only wants the best for us! Every completed gift will always be good. Sometimes we don’t see the goodness of God in our lives because we don’t see the completed gift – see a part of it. In the promised future New Jerusalem, the inhabitants who serve God will never need the Sun for its light because;
"the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Revelation 21:23 NIV)
"The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." (Isaiah 60:19-20 NIV)
The Father of Lights
God is the Father of Lights who created ALL things. He is the One who gave birth to every sparkling star in the entire Universe. He grouped those stars into their constellations. He assigned their individual brightness. He framed the physical laws of the universe that keep those stars in their courses. Every good thing in this world comes from God. If it’s not good, it doesn’t come from Him.
“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11 ESV)
God is the author of all good and everything that is good on Earth can be traced to Him. He is the light of the world and the source and fountain of all lights, which includes not just the Sun, but also such things as the light of reason, conscience, holiness, prophecy, and of those who live their lives honoring Him and by preaching His Gospel to all nations (See 1 John 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:16). The supernatural light found in His Kingdom were typified by the supernatural lights on the breastplate of the high priest, the Urim, because, As "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5), He cannot in any way be the Author of darkness of ignorance, unbelief and sin (James 1:13).
The Light of the World
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12 ESV)
When Jesus declared He was the light of the world, He was also proclaiming that He was the Creator God of the Universe and that only in Him is found all perfection, holiness, truth, peace, goodness, blessing, joy, and eternal life! (See John 1:1-5)
Jesus created the sun, moon, sky, earth, oceans, creatures, and us! Within the known universe, all things are held together by the power of light. It was essential to create these things since His design requires the force of light to bind particles together. Jesus proclaimed that He is the Creator and sustainer of every sun in the entire universe and everything in existence, including the cellular structure of the human body.
"Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw the light was good." (Genesis 1:3-4 NLT)
In Quantum Physics, the force that holds the quanta particles, atoms, and molecules together is light. Light keeps electrons tied to the nuclei of atoms and atoms bound together to make molecules and objects. All forms of matter are made up of solidified light.
Everything depends on Jesus for moment-by-moment preservation. Through Him, every person can physically "live, and move, and have (their) being" (Acts 17:27-28 NIV). Without Him, every created thing would cease to exist.
Because Jesus is light, He lives in “unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see" (1 Tim 6:15-16). He even “wraps Himself in light as with a garment" (Psalm 104:2 NIV). Light is the place where safety and security are found and is a symbol of God’s grace. The Bible says that:
When Terrible Things Happen
Most of what happens to us in this world is a result of our bad choices, recklessness, self-indulgence, and rebellious nature—poor choices and sin cause more suffering in this world than anything else. No one wants to take responsibility for their actions, so they blame someone else. The result is that people tend to look to either God or satan to blame when, in fact, it was the wrong actions on their part and by their own free choice that caused the problems.
The enemy of God “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8) but he is NOT a Lion, Jesus is THE Lion of the Tribe of Judah! (See Revelation 5:5). The mind is the devil’s playground. It is there that he can try to talk you into doing or saying something you should not.
Because God is love, He gave us the freedom to choose whether to love Him in return.
Free will gives the potential for love but also for hate. We live in a cursed world where satan is the ruler of “…in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air...” (Ephesians 2:2)
The freedom to love is the basis of a relationship. If God had not given us freedom to choose, we would all be a bunch of mindless robots living preprogrammed lives. However, it is because of that very freedom God gave us that there is suffering in the world. Sadly, Adam and Eve, who literally ‘walked” with God in the Garden of Eden chose to rebel against Him which created a tsunami of evil and destruction that penetrated the DNA of everything resulting in the second Law of Thermodynamics, known as ‘Entropy, which is a measure of disorder or randomness in a system that can never decrease over time leading to the idea that natural processes are irreversible, which is why every living thing ultimately dies from sickness and disease in the world – no matter how much “faith’ you have.
The Free will God gave us allows us to choose between right and wrong, between righteousness and sin. He decreed or ordained by order of His omnipotent power to allow us the freedom that could cause sin to come into the world. He did not create sin or suffering. Sin, and the suffering it causes, is a direct result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.
Suffering
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4 NIV)
“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:11-12 NIV)
Jesus was sinless, yet He was not free from problems and hardships. Although He is God, the Son, “he learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). As His child, you are an heir of the Father and co-heir with Christ:
“We share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17 NIV)
We must understand that suffering is a part of Discipleship and should be counted among the costs of surrendering our lives to Jesus. Yet our “present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18 NIV).
Suffering is as much a part of this life as air and water because we live in a sinful world. Our Creator doesn't cause suffering to punish us. Only satan, the arch-enemy of Heaven, can be accused of tormenting us. God is not the author of our pain and suffering. He doesn’t make us sick or “allow” us to get hurt or take away our loved ones to “teach us a lesson.” However, He did promise deliverance from the suffering of this world. While we live in this current world, suffering is inevitable. The point of our lives here isn’t comfort, but training and preparation. This life is just a rehearsal for eternity.
The Merciful and Majestic Goodness of God
“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 ESV)
God is the omnipotent Creator of all things. He knows you personally and everything about you, yet He still loves you anyway! Because of the death of Jesus on the Cross, He forgave all your sins - past, present, and future! He is immutable.
Throughout the Bible, God is revealed as "good," and His "goodness" towards us is proclaimed. God is the source and perfection of all good (2 Thessalonians 1:11; see also Psalm 23:6; 68:10; 73:1; 119:65; 145:9; Lamentations 3:25; Luke 6:35; Romans 2:4; 11:22; Ephesians 2:7; Titus 3:4).
God’s goodness is the foundation of Scripture and is praised in the Psalms (25:8; 34:8; 86:5; 100:5; 118:1; 136:1; 145:9). Jesus affirms His goodness when speaking to the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:17; Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19). The Bible declares to all humankind, "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"' (1 Peter 2:3; also Psalm 34:8)
The Old Testament's primary words for "good" and "goodness" come from the Hebrew word ‘towb,’ which means "pleasant" or "agreeable." In the Old Testament, God's goodness towards His people and their goodness in response are grounded in the covenant between them. God's appeals to His people to return to the covenant relationship find expression in a call to simple goodness (Micah 6:6-8).
God never varies. There is no shadow of turning with Him - He does not change (Malachi 3:6). That means He will always be good because His character will never change! God is good because His gifts are good.
The gift of salvation found only in Jesus is the ultimate expression and highest example of God’s goodness (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). When a person hears the Gospel message and places their trust in Jesus, He places them into a new life! He has shown His goodness by placing them into His eternal family and promised never to leave or forsake (i.e., divorce) them (Hebrews 13:5).
Human goodness is modeled on divine goodness, which involves proper behavior that expresses itself in kindness and other praiseworthy qualities, including avoiding evil (Matthew 5:48). When people are good, they behave decently toward each other as a result of God's goodness toward them. The general biblical words for "good/goodness" include this idea of right behavior. However, the idea is often expressed using a more specific term, such as ‘upright/uprightness’ or ‘righteous/righteousness.’
“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 ESV)
Let’s unpack the verse:
“presume” (Gk: kataphroneó = to think little of, contempt, look down on someone, despise, scorn)
“riches” (Gk: ploutos = wealth, fullness, abundance)
“kindness” (Gk: chréstotés = moral integrity/excellence, gentleness, goodness)
“forbearance” (Gk: anoché = delaying, tolerance, holding back)
“patience” (Gk: makrothumia = long-passion/long-tempered)
“not knowing” (Gk: agnoeó = to be ignorant willfully, not understand)
“kindness” (Gk: chréstos = useful, goodness, kindness, benevolent, virtuous, gracious)
“lead” (Gk: agó = to lead, guide, direct)
“repentance” (Gk: metanoia = a change of mind, to cause to repent of wrongdoing genuinely
Verse Revised: “Or, the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering are you treating with contempt, being ignorant that the merciful goodness of God is leading you to repentance?" (Wuest)
God Works for the Good
The Psalmist declares that goodness and mercy will pursue a person all the days of their life and that if they delight in the Lord, He will give them the desires of their heart (See Psalm 23:6, 37:4).
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3 NIV)
CS Lewis said that “If a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad. Free will is what has made evil possible. God gave us free will, though it makes evil possible, because it is the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.
Good Things Happen
The Bible declares that “in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28 NIV). Historically, this verse has been used to teach that every situation, no matter how terrible, will turn out “good” if a person loves God. The verse says, in the full meaning of the Greek text, that God enters INTO every life circumstance to come alongside us and work it out for our best, no matter what has happened. That doesn’t mean, or even remotely suggest, that He will supernaturally change the circumstances or the outcome the way we want them to be.
The context of the verse is the fallen world, and that the world as a whole is subject to the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:21). This bondage is so widespread that the whole world is groaning in pain, the Born-Again Christian groans in pain, and even the Holy Spirit groans in pain (Romans 8:22-23,26). The groaning in this context is worldwide and appears to cover all of creation itself.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3 NIV)
“And God raised us with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6-7 NIV)
“He is merciful and tender toward those who don't deserve it; he is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love. He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever. He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for his mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence him.” (Psalm 103:8-14 TLB)
Both the Bible and life show us that not everything always works for good for those who love God. God wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. He wants people to obey and love Him, but not all people will. Things do not work together for good for God either.
God cannot make everything that happens good, but in every situation, He works for the good of those who love Him by His sovereign power, just as He chose to enter into the world as human flesh in the person of Jesus. God’s great promise is that He will enter into every life circumstance and put forth His sovereign power on behalf of every Born-Again Christian and work together with them to produce what He knows to be the very best possible for them because He is a good God and only wants the best for them.
God does not create horrible circumstances so that He can provide ‘opportunities’ to prove He is faithful, or so that people can prove they trust Him during hard or trying times, or to grow spiritually! Nor does He use or allow suffering as ‘loving’ correction of His children. He does not cause or allow bad things to happen so that He can test or try one's faith to make them a ‘better’ or ‘stronger’ person, or to discipline or punish them.
The word “allow” is defined as “to forbear or neglect to restrain or prevent.” God desires only the best for His people, whom He calls His Bride because He is head over heels in love with her (Revelation 21:9)! He desires to pour out (not restrain!) blessing upon blessing to those who trust Him with their entire being. He will never neglect His Bride or prevent her from experiencing deep intimacy when she cries out in desperate longing for more of Him. He has blessed her with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). He only gives her gifts that are good and perfect (James 1:17). Pain, suffering, sickness, disease, accidents, and tragedy are opposed to good and perfect.
The Goodness of God’s Teaching, Training, and Discipline
The heavenly Father knows each person intimately.
"Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:30 ESV)
He only desires what is in our best interest. Because He is love, He disciplines us. Many believe that means He ‘punishes,’ or ‘scolds’ or ‘spanks’ using severe means for the best eternal interests of the Born-Again Christian. I had a pastor tell me that God caused his wife to fall off her mountain bike as punishment because she was angry and would not "submit" to him. It is clear from Scripture that God had absolutely nothing to do with what happened because it was contrary to the goodness of His character and nature. If we were accused of doing to our children what we accuse God of doing to His, we would be arrested and locked up for child abuse!
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:6 ESV)
The word translated as “chastises” is the Greek word ‘mastigóo’, which means to whip or flog (scourge) a victim strapped to a pole or frame. Sin indeed has consequences, even when a person repents and receives God's forgiveness for those sins. However, the book of Hebrews was written to Jews who thought that somehow, they were exempt from suffering, which gave them a good reason to doubt their faith. Throughout the book of Hebrews, the divine principle is revealed that discipline is evidence of being a child of God. Earthly fathers discipline their children because they love them. As with any healthy and good parent, when God chastens or disciplines, it is evidence of His love (See also Proverbs 3:11-12; 2 Samuel 12:13-14).
There are no passages found in the Bible that emphatically state that God (or any loving father in or out of the Bible) teaches and disciplines by intentionally tying His children (aka His Bride) to a pole to whip, flog, beat, lash, flagellate or flail, to oppress, afflict, plague, torment, torture, curse, or cause sickness, disease and or suffering to teach and discipline those He loves as tools of discipline.
The root word in discipline is ‘disciple.’ A disciple is a student. Discipline primarily refers to educating and training. When God ‘corrects,’ it is predominantly to redirect one's path by making course corrections as they travel on the road of salvation. Sometimes it can even be a complete paradigm shift.
The Bible says that we are not to:
“make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” (Hebrews 12:7-11 NIV)
The word “discipline” comes from the Greek word ‘paideuo.’ The primary meaning is tutoring, educating, training, or nurturing. The fundamental context of the Hebrews passages is that God is a GOOD and LOVING Father who educates and trains His children by nurturing them in love. The Bible admonishes earthly fathers not to provoke their “children to wrath but bring them up” (nourish them) in the nurture” (Gk: paideia) “and admonition” (mild reproof) of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). God absolutely does not use harsh or extreme corporal punishment as a way to discipline His Bride.
The multiple passages in the book of Hebrews teach that God’s principal way of disciplining is not to supernaturally intervene on a person’s behalf when they step into darkness by walking in pride and refusing to learn or rejecting His training. They initiate their discipline by opening up windows of opportunity for the enemy to gain strongholds. God is ready and waiting to supernaturally pull the person out of the darkness the instant they repent. The chief teacher and trainer of every child of God is the Holy Spirit, not sickness, suffering, pain, or disease (Luke 12:12, John 14:26).
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren….” (James 1:16 ESV)
The word “deceived” means to be led astray. The Bible implores us not to let circumstances - the trials and temptations of this life - cause us to be deceived or led astray or to question God’s goodness.
When God chose Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, he was fearful and unsure. He said to God,
"If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." (Exodus 33:14-18 NIV)
To His surprise, God said to Moses He would show him His glory, "I will make all my GOODNESS pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be GRACIOUS to whom I will be gracious, and will show MERCY on whom I will show mercy" (Ex 33:19-20 NIV – emphasis mine). God revealed that His magnificent and beautiful glory is His goodness and mercy! God is good and merciful ALL the time!
Beloved - remember this: light and darkness can’t dwell in the same place together (2 Corinthians 6:14). God is light and the Father of lights (1 John 1:5; James 1:17). He "wraps Himself in light as with a garment" (Psalm 104:2a). His light is so brilliant that no darkness of evil can diffuse or penetrate it. LIGHT is His shadow!
God is good because His gifts are good, His character is changeless, and His salvation is secure!
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)
We must abide in the comfort of knowing and understanding that God is absolutely good and His goodness continues and endures forever. We must also ground ourselves and trust in the majestic splendor and merciful goodness of God
God’s goodness toward us is more than we can comprehend! The words used in the Bible for “good” are "Towb" in Hebrew and "Talos" in Greek. To get a better understanding of these words, look at how they are translated into English: good, better, well, goodness, best, merry, fair, prosperity, precious, fine, wealth, beautiful, favor, honest, and glad.
“The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.’ (Nahum 1:7 NIV)
“Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” (Romans 11:22 NIV)
God’s Goodness can be seen through His Creation.
“For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12 NIV)
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 KJV)
The Goodness of God is clearly revealed throughout the Bible.
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary.” (Psalm 107:1-2 NIV, see also Psalm 119:68; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Jeremiah 31:12)
“How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You.” (Psalm 31:19 NIV)
God is holy, and His conduct toward us is determined by His nature and goodness and seen in His actions toward us, which endure forever. He is ever merciful towards us and sends His favor to comfort, bless, and cause us to walk in obedience. His goodness leads us to repentance and restoration. His actions toward us are always good, helping and blessing us.
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever” (1 Chronicles 16: 34 KJV)
“God's goodness leads instead of drives. He has chosen to lead people, not to force them to turn and come to Him. He takes no delight in wrath, and His only desire is to lead people to repentance. Even when God must chasten a person, He uses His hand from a heart filled with goodness and love because He is kind and our loving heavenly Father.
A.W. Tozer said, “God is kindhearted, gracious, good-natured and benevolent in intention. God is not only infinitely good; He is perfectly good. The goodness of God is the only valid reason for existence, the only reason underlying all things. If a man will not take God’s goodness, then he must have God’s severity toward all who continue in moral revolt against the throne of God and in rebellion against God’s identity, which is rooted in Him being able to be the ultimate expression of good, to create good things and to show that goodness to those He has created.” (See Exodus 34:6-7, Deuteronomy 6:25, Psalm 52:1, 100:5, Philippians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:11).
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.’ (Psalm 34:8-10 NIV)
In the context of the verses presented, this statement encourages us in trials and difficulties, reminding us of God’s unwavering goodness and benevolence. This verse is a testament to God's faithfulness as the ultimate giver of all that is truly good in life.
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8-9)
So, does “Every Good and Perfect Gift” include Trials and Suffering? NOOOOOO!!!!
